Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight
by Benji The Vampire Confuser
Summary: Welcome to the X-Men, Hotshot. Hope you survive the experience!
1. Default Chapter

**Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight**

**by Benji: The Vampire Confuser**

_The X-men are the property of Marvel Comics. Characters used without permission._

_Author's note: This story takes place just after X-Tinction Agenda, a little before Bishop's arrival. The first section is largely an excerpt from X-Men: Night of the Living Brain Dead. This is because up to a point, everything happened exactly the same way. This is the first story in a series of Hotshot Stories that take place in the true Marvel Timeline. Previously called the Hotshot Saga, it's now called The Hotshot Series._

_One of my earliest fan-fics. Written many a year ago. Yes he is a total Mary Sue._

**Chapter 1**

**Burlington Vermont**

Will's week was a hectic one. On Mondays he had Kung-Fu class, and Tuesday through Friday he had music lessons with a different instrument each time. On Tuesdays it was piano, Wednesdays: guitar, Thursdays: harmonica, Fridays: fiddle. Then on weekends he hacked into the information superhighway. In school he was in the choir, and the band. As a result, he had very little time for school work. Fortunately, due to his eidetic memory, he managed to get all A's and B's.

Will returned home that Monday night tired from his martial arts class, and ready for a nice sleep before school the next day. Arriving at his building, he took his key from his pocket and started to unlock the door. But the door was already unlocked.

"That's weird," he said to himself, "What idiot left the door unlocked?" He shrugged and entered the building. After locking the door behind him, he ascended the stairs to the apartment he shared with his parents. They'd moved to the city soon after the death of his sister 10 years ago. Having lived here for so long, he was used to the climb and was in good shape so the climb didn't faze him.

Walking down the hallway, he smiled, remembering the new female student in his class. He now had yet another reason to look forward to Mondays. But all thoughts of romance left him when he reached his apartment.

The lock on his door was broken, and the smell of smoke filled the air like a fine mist. But what he noticed the most was the message spray-painted on the door: "DIE MUTIE DIE".

Fearing the worst, he burst into the apartment and tripped over something on the floor. He picked himself up and turned on the light. The scene before him froze his blood. His parents were lying on the floor blood seeping from gaping holes in their heads.

Will barely made it to the bathroom before his stomach reacted violently to what he had just seen. He crouched over the toilet for a moment allowing himself to calm down. He clenched his eyes shut in vain attempt to hold back the tears. His parents had been all he had after his sister had died, the rest of his extended family being scattered to the four corners of the U.S. His parents had brought him through the pain and shock of her death. And now they had been murdered.

Suddenly, he remembered the smoke. Being careful not to look in the direction of his parents, he followed the smell of smoke to the kitchen. He entered to find smoke seeping from the oven. He opened the door, and drew back, as a great cloud of noxious smoke poured out, choking him. Coughing, Will waved for the smoke to away and saw that tonight's dinner was ruined as well. Then he saw the bomb.

The explosion sent him hurtling out the window like a cannonball. He bounced off the wall of the building next door, and fell to the alley below. He plummeted nearly ten stories, but more damage was done to the ground than to him.

For a moment, Will lay on his back, watching the flames pouring out of the windows, in shock of what had just happened. Then he gingerly picked himself off the ground. He was amazed to find that he was not hurt at all. Even though his clothes had been burned beyond recognition by the explosion, he was not even singed. Nor had he been hurt from his fall. He'd not known until now just how invulnerable he was. He'd never put his power to the test. His undamaged state was to change drastically however.

"Well well well, my friends what do we have here?" said a voice behind him. "Looks like the freak here didn't die after all." Will looked up. Standing in the alleyway, blocking his escape, were five young men. He recognized one from school but he didn't know any of the others. Before what the leader had said could register, the closest one threw a brick that connected solidly with his chest. Though not hurt, he was knocked back into the alley, and they closed in.

The first hit him in the head with a length of lead pipe. Will's head rocked back, and bounced off the wall. But much to the boys' astonishment, he not only wasn't hurt but he was ready to fight. Will let loose with a flurry of punches that quickly brought his assailant to the ground. Before the others could react he took a flying leap at the leader and felt his foot strike his jaw. The leader went down like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

Another boy had managed to get around behind Will, while he was occupied. He quickly got Will in a full nelson, and stood on his feet immobilizing him. The two remaining boys produced knives from their pockets, and came towards him.

The first grinned, and sliced open Will's left arm, laughing at his scream of pain. A minute later they had produced several deep cut in his arms and legs.

"Why-why are you doing this?" he gasped, the pain was almost unbearable.

"Because you're a mutant, fucker. And we couldn't let such a marvelous effort go to waste could we?"

Wills face reddened with fury. "You killed my parents?"

"That's right my mutilated freak. And now we're going to kill you."

"You son of a bitch!" Will screamed, and slammed his head into the nose of the boy holding him. When he was released, he hit him in the neck with his elbow, then cracked his head against the wall. The first boy with the knife lunged at him. Will dodged effortlessly, and caught his wrist. He gave it a twist and heard bone snap. Then he took hold of the front of his jacket and threw him into the side of a nearby dumpster.

The last remaining boy threw himself at Will. Will grabbed the boy's hand and concentrated. The blade of the knife glowed red, then white. The boy screamed as he felt his flesh melt and burn. The scream snapped Will out of his rage. He released the boy's wrist and stared in shock at what he had done.

The leader probably had a broken jaw, and the others were just as seriously injured. Will gasped and stumbled. Then he turned and ran out of the alley.

"Fucking mutie." the boy with the burned hand muttered and drew a gun from his jacket with his good hand. He aimed the gun and fired. The bullet entered through Will's left temple, and exited through his left eye. Will howled with pain and thrust unthinking out behind him with his power. The wave of heat left nothing behind in the alley.

* * *

Jubilee heard the explosion from four blocks away. She and Rogue had been sent to contact a mutant that Professor Xavier had recently found with Cerebro.

"C'mon Rogue!" she yelled taking off in the direction of the noise. "That sounded like it came from his apartment building!" Jubilee quickly fell behind as Rouge flew at top speed to the source of the explosion.

By the time they arrived, the fight had ended. The mutant they'd been sent to find lay bleeding at the mouth of the alley. He'd been shot, and had severe lacerations in his arms and legs. Jubilee knelt at his side and felt for a pulse. She felt a faint throbbing.

"He's alive, but barely." she said. "We've got to get him to the mansion. Now."

"No need to tell me twice Sugar." Rogue said. She scooped up the boy in one arm and Jubilee in the other, and took off.

* * *

Beast sat reading the latest Stephen King novel in his room. He hoped that good would win out in this one. They seldom did in King's books. Beast couldn't really say why he liked King, truth was certainly stranger than fiction these days. The intercom on his wall beeped.

"Beast!" He'd been leaning back in his chair, and the call came so suddenly that he fell backwards.

"I'm glad no one was around to see that." he said to himself. Aloud he said, "What's wrong Warren?"

"We've got an emergency patient for you in the infirmary!"

"I'm on my way!" he replied and ran from the room.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The boy, Will Davidson had been in the infirmary for a week now, recuperating from his wounds. Beast had left the infirmary only two times since Will's arrival. Jubilee had started visiting daily.

"Hey Furball, how's studmuffin doing?" Jubilee asked as she entered the room. _I will not show concern. I will not show concern._ she thought.

"My prognosis, is that he'll be fine in a couple of weeks." Beast replied. He'd been sure not to notice Jubilee's interest in the boy, sure she would not want him to. "Would you mind watching him while I go get something to eat?"

_Matchmaker, Matchmaker, call me a matchmaker._ he thought.

"Sure no sweat." Jubilee agreed. A bit to readily, she thought.

_She's got it bad for this guy._ Beast thought smiling as he left the room. _Ah springtime._

_

* * *

_

It seemed to Jean Grey that Professor Xavier always recruited in groups. No sooner had their infirmary received it's current occupant, then two new mutants enrolled in the school. Their names were Daron Shaw and Adam Hogan. Daron was from Alaska, and had the power to change his shape into anything he wanted. Adam was from Australia and could create illusions so realistic, that only the highest level PSI wouldn't be fooled.

Jean sat in the airport awaiting the arrival of Xavier's newest students. She was looking forward to meeting them. She looked up and lowered the book she had been reading when the PA system came online.

"Flight 209 from Alaska now arriving at gate 26."

_That's Daron,_ she thought, _One down, one to go. _She looked for him as the passengers began to disembark. Then she saw him, a boy with long red hair carrying a suitcase.

"Daron? Daron Shaw?" He looked up, when he heard his name called. "My name is Jean Grey. I'm from the institute."

"Pleased to meet you." he said, shaking her hand.

"We'll be going just as soon as the other new student arrives."

"Flight 402 from England now arriving at gate 27."

"That should be him now."

_Well isn't that convenient._ Daron thought.

* * *

When Will awoke, the pain from his injuries had dulled to slight aches. He looked around, startled. He'd woken up three times already and had just begun to get used to a doctor covered with blue fur. But he had to admit, the pretty Chinese girl who now sat by his bed was a huge improvement.

_Okay,_ he thought, _Step one, see how mobile I am._

"Hi." he said out loud, sitting up. _So far so good._ he thought. She looked at him and smiled.

"Hey." she replied. "You're awake."

"You noticed. How sweet. I've probably already been told this, but despite the pleasant effects of Morphine it does have it's drawbacks and probably affected my memory. So, two questions. One: Where am I? And two: Who are you?"

"In order, you're at the `Xavier Institute for the Gifted`. And two, my name's Jubilation Lee, but everybody just calls me Jubilee."

"Pleased to meet you Jubilee." Will said. He extended his hand, testing the mobility in his arms, and shook her hand. "I'm Will." He blushed, and fretted when he missed her hand. "Um," he said worriedly. "There seems to be something wrong with my depth perception." He tried to open his left eye, to no avail. "Uh, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to my eye would you?"

**Two Weeks Later**

Beast had finally pronounced Will recovered enough to get out and about. "But I'd stay away from the Danger Room for a while." He cautioned him.

_The what room?_ Will thought.

He walked down the hallway towards one of the many living rooms in the mansion. Now that he could walk, he thought he had finally found a way to vent his grief at the death of his parents. Not to mention the fact that he'd killed five people. _Well I'm gonna deal with that right now._ he thought.

As he entered the room, he saw a mirror on the wall. He'd been avoiding mirrors lately, not sure he'd like what he'd see. But now he could not resist looking. He recoiled in mock horror at the sight. The patch over his eye made him look like a pirate. _That's actually pretty cool._ he thought. _I could get used to this._

Turning, he found what he'd been looking for. A grand piano. He sat at the bench and dug an old photograph from his pocket. Not many things had been salvageable from his family's apartment, but Logan and Worthington had brought back enough for him to start over here. Most important to him however, was this photo of his family. He set the picture against the music stand, and began to play.

Jubilee listened to the soft, sad music as she watched him play. She felt empathy for Will, she to had had her parents killed. Though admittedly not for the same reasons. She wondered briefly if he might blame himself for his parent's deaths. They had, after all been killed because he was a mutant. And besides her feeling of empathy, she had to admit, to herself anyway, that she was attracted to him as well. A tear rolled down his face as he played.

"That eye patch looks good on you." she said entering. _I will not show enthusiasm, I will not show enthusiasm._ she thought.

"Thanks." he said softly.

"What song is that?" she asked.

"Who Want's to Live Forever, by Queen."

_And an uncomfortable silence ensues._ Jubilee thought.

"Is that your family?" she asked finally, glancing at the photo on the piano.

"Yeah, the girl is...was my twin sister. She died when we were seven. She was allergic to bees, and got stung. We never knew because she was mute."

Jubilee opened her mouth to reply, but as a huge shadow eclipsed the light from the window, what came out instead was a gasp of fear.

Elsewhere in the Mansion, Adam and Daron sat in the library, they had gotten into an argument over which was more dangerous, the Australian Outback, or the Alaskan wilderness.

"I'm telling you, an Alaskan bear is the most dangerous animal on earth." Daron insisted. "Do you have any idea how many hikers and campers they kill just so they can brag about it to their friends?"

"And I'm telling you it isn't. You can survive a bear attack just by bein' prepared and bringin' a gun. But a crocodile will drag you under, and drown you before you know what hit you."

"Oh yeah?" Daron started. "Well....I've run out of dangerous animals let's change the subject. Are you really related to Paul Hogan?"

"That's right mate. He's me uncle. A great guy. And aren't you descended from some Civil War hero?"

"Yup. You know your American History. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers. The first black regiment. He gave his life for his country and his men."

"But he never married."

"Yeah, well," Daron said sheepishly. "Actually, I'm descended from his cousin. But I'm still related to him!" Acting on a sudden inspiration, Daron shape-shifted into the form of the famous colonel. Grinning, Adam created an image of ten Confederate soldiers. He lost his concentration when he heard a crash from the other side of the mansion.

"What the hell was that?" he asked.

"Whatever it was it probably isn't good." Daron answered.

* * *

Jubilee screamed as the Sentinel's hand crashed through the window. Will ducked and rolled, barely getting out of the room in time, but Jubilee was caught. The giant robot snatched her up and pulled her outside.

"What a time for the X-Men to be away on a mission." Will muttered. Then he saw something on the side of the Sentinels head. An antenna. The Sentinel was being remote controlled. He ran to the computer room and logged on. "Here I come to save the day!" he sang.

* * *

Jubilee was as close to panic as anyone was ever likely to see her. Her arms were pinned to her sides so she couldn't throw any fire works at the Sentinel. Not that she thought it would have done any good anyway. Sentinels were notoriously hard to destroy.

Suddenly, there was a roar off to her right. She looked and her eyes widened. A large Tyrannosaur was bearing down on the Sentinel. "Now I've seen everything!" she said.

The Sentinel however, did not seem to notice it. As the beast neared, it vanished. But right behind it was another one. This time the Sentinel noticed it. The robot fired at it but the dinosaur was too quick. The T-Rex roared and leaped. The Sentinel dodged, but was knocked to the ground, jarring Jubilee. Throwing the dino aside, the Sentinel rose, then paused. It stood stock still, staring off into space. Then it gently set Jubilee down, and took off. When it was a few miles off, it exploded. The T-Rex shrank back into the form of Daron Shaw and Adam joined them.

"What just happened?" Daron asked. "I was under the impression that they didn't usually do that."

"I happened." said Will behind them. "I very conveniently used the super computer in the war room to locate the frequency that whoever was controlling the Sentinel was using, and then I took it over. I set it's self destruct."

"Clever." Adam said. "You're name wouldn't happen to be Zero Cool would it Mate?"

"No, Hotshot." Will answered. "You hack?"

"No, my sister does, maybe you've heard of her, Crash Master?"

Will grinned. "Your sister is Crash Master? Woah! She and I are like that!" he held his thumb and forefinger together.

"You're weird even for a mutant." Jubilee grinned. "I like that in a person."

* * *

That night, Will sat in his bed, playing `Dust in the Wind' on the guitar that had been salvaged from his apartment. He looked up at the knock on his door. He hesitated, but finally let his visitor in.

"Look," said Jubilee. "I may not be the most sensitive person in the world, but I can tell when someone's hurting. C'mon, enough angsting we're going to a movie."

"Why Jubilee," Will said smiling. "Are you asking me on a date?"

Jubilee kissed him.

"Yes." she said.

**To be continued...**

**in**

**Hotshot's Crusade**


End file.
